NaNoWriMo: I didn’t Do it Again
It has become clear to me that I am not ready to write a novel in 30 days. I won’t tell you I tried, because I didn’t really. I wrote here and there, and gave in to other life callings, and wrote a poem a day—for the most part. It’s evident to me that I will choose a poem daily over a novel in thirty days every time.
No Writing Super Hero Cape for Me
I thought I might manage it this year: the daily poems and the novel. It was just my imagination. This year, I am officially letting myself off the hook. I will work in a relaxed manner, writing daily, to finish my novel in a year. I take the idea from Walter Mosley’s writing book, This Year You Write Your Novel. I will take the year beginning December 1 to complete one of the two stories I have started in this and last year’s NaNo event. (I still have the notes.)
Daily writing is a great idea. I find I enjoy it very much. However, I don’t always have it in me to write on the exact same subject. It is possibly what draws me to poetry. Still, I have longer stories I want to tell. It’s just that forcing myself to do it in thirty days only works in my imagination.
Why Not
I really can and often do write more than 2000 words daily. I type at an adequate rate of 60 words per minute on average. I have cool software to assist and my tried and true application, Corel WordPerfect. It’s not the mechanics.
There’s no problem with following ideas. I prime them, feed them, and let them go, chasing frantically, writing feverishly to capture the nuances and tangents. I’m perfectly willing to shape them later. So, it’s not the postponement of editing.
I could blame it on the fact that everyone says that you have to write crap. Writing crap really doesn’t appeal to me. I don’t mind bad first drafts. But that isn’t crap to me, necessarily. Most likely though, it’s the fact that I have way too many story questions. I’ve not substantially stacked in my favor, the odds for success. I watch stories, think of stories, and read stories. When the leaps don’t work for me, I wonder how it might have been done differently so that it doesn’t resemble magic, but a founded, logical next step.
I’m Just Not Doing It in November
Ok, I do want it to be good the first time out. I just don’t need perfection. The bottom line is that I don’t feel it in the month of November. Perhaps I’ll take the next 30 day month—Oh, no! That’s April, National Poetry Month. Just kidding. I’ll give myself the year and let the story play out as it will, leaving myself free to do any extraneous research I might choose.
Who can say if it will take the full year? I can’t say because I never got so far as finishing. Still, by next November, I may be eager to crank out a sequel. For now, I’ll get back to my daily poems. Write on, NaNoWriMo’s. Part of me really does wish I was finishing with you. But, I let myself off the hook and I’m staying off, indefinitely.
Shari Smothers on 
Stacy Floyd on 
